The Portuguese Cistern of El Jadida

Casablanca-Settat · Marocko · Fortress

The people of the town say spirits live in the dim vault — the hall lay walled up and forgotten for nearly two hundred years.

Among the people of El Jadida it is said that spirits live in the dim vault beneath the fortress, and visitors report whispers and shadows moving across the water where the light does not reach. The hall has had plenty of time to gather stories: when the Portuguese were driven out in 1769 the cistern was walled up and fell into complete oblivion, and it was not until 1916 that a shopkeeper stumbled on the way back down.

The cistern was built in 1514 beneath the Portuguese fortress town of Mazagan — an underground hall of pillars where a single shaft of light falls through a hole in the roof and mirrors itself in the still, glassy water. Orson Welles captured its eerie shimmer in his film of Othello.

FAQ

Hvor ligger The Portuguese Cistern of El Jadida?

The Portuguese Cistern of El Jadida ligger i Casablanca-Settat, Marocko.